Of Pencils and Highlighter Socks
by In The Loft
Summary: It started with a boy, a girl, a Quidditch team, and a train journey. Somehow it lasted forever.


**This was written for justalittle l o o n y's Platonic Relationship challenge. I own nothing that you recognize. **

Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy.

You never saw one without the other. Anyone who knew them had forgotten how one name sounded without the other. RoseandScorp. ScorpandRose.

(-)

"Can I sit here? My dad doesn't want me to." The girl talking is short, already in school robes that are slightly too big, with curly red hair trapped in a ponytail.  
>"Sure," he shrugs. "Whatever. Hey, is that the Chudley Cannons?"<p>

He points to the book she's holding under one arm, and she takes the seat opposite him, waving out at the station before replying.  
>"Yeah. Why?"<br>"I support them," he says, tapping the badge on his lapel. She nods, approvingly.  
>"Good."<p>

He's never been to one of their matches. He probably couldn't tell you who's their Keeper this season. He doesn't even think they're particularly good. The only reason he supports them is because his dad doesn't want him to.

"I'm Rose, by the way," she introduces herself, about fifteen minutes after the train has pulled out of the station.  
>"Scorpius," he says, taking her hand and shaking it. There's no need for surnames. They both know already. "So why doesn't your dad want you to sit here?"<p>

She gives him a look, like '_are you kidding me_?' and he grins. She smiles back, and returns to her book, before the carriage door opens and a boy with messy black hair and bright green eyes looks in.  
>"Er... Hey Ro."<br>"Hey Al," Rose says. "This is Scorp. Do you mind if I call you Scorp?"  
>"I'd rather you didn't..."<br>"Do you want to come and sit with us?"  
>"No I think I'm going to sit with the others..." Al says, giving Scorpius a suspicious look. Scorpius puffs his cheeks and sticks his tongue out. Al rolls his eyes. "Do you want to come?"<br>"No, I'm going to stay with Scorp for a bit," Rose says. "Bye."

The boy backs out, and Rose resumes reading.

"What house do you want to be in?" Scorpius asks, eventually. It's kinda boring trying to read the blurb of her book.  
>"Gryffindor. Or Ravenclaw," she replies idly, turning a page over. "You?"<br>"Gryffindor," he surprises her by saying. "To annoy my dad."

She slams the book shut and smiles at him.  
>"I like you," she decides. "Do you want to be friends?"<br>"My dad says that friends are just enemies who don't have the guts to kill you," Scorpius says absently. Rose looks shocked and he smirks.  
>"I was <em>joking<em>."

(-)

She's sorted into Gryffindor, and he into Slytherin, but their friendship doesn't stop there. Halfway through the Feast, directly after the Sorting, Rose Weasley causes a disturbance by slipping off her bench and walking the length of the Hall to squash in beside Scorpius. As she cuts a large slice of chocolate gateau and picks up a spare spoon, he hisses;  
>"<em>What are you doing<em>?"  
>"Sitting with you, genius," Rose says, through a mouthful of cake.<br>"That's against the rules!"  
>"So? Live a little," she says, spraying him with crumbs and sniggering at his expression. "Anyway. My family were boring me."<p>

He decides then that his dad was right about the Weasley family being insane, and that he has never wanted to be a part of something more.

(-)

"What are you doing for Christmas?" she asks, clomping over in her big, blue boots (he thinks she called them Dr. Martens) and taking a seat next to him at the nearly deserted Slytherin table on the last day of term.  
>"Staying here," he says, gloomily.<br>"That's depressing," she says. "Are you going to eat that?"  
>"S'all yours."<p>

As she bites into his mince pie (what is it with this girl and food?) she says;  
>"I'll stay too."<br>"You already told your parents you were coming home," he points out.  
>"Oh yeah. You can come round too."<br>"Are you sure that's a good idea?" he says, anxiously. Rose wrinkles her nose at him.  
>"Please. It's a terrible idea. That's why we're doing it!"<p>

(He's never had a better Christmas.)

(-)

"See you next autumn Scorp!" Rose shrieks over to him on the last day of term. She's surrounded by her aunts and uncles and cousins, and he waves a hand but he doesn't think she's seen him. Knowing that she'll probably have forgotten him by September 1st he trudges towards his mum and dad and smiles when they ask him if he made any friends.

(-)

"Oi, Malfoy!"

She's bounding towards him, pushing through the crowds, pulling her suitcase, and wearing bright pink and yellow stripy socks.  
>"What?" he asks, tiredly, as she stops next to him.<br>"You never answered any of my letters all this summer!"  
>"Those were all you?" Scorpius says, amazed.<br>"Er... Yeah. I knew you didn't have any other friends so I wrote you something whenever someone said the word lollipop."

Scorpius wonders what to ask first. Why lollipop? Why was the word lollipop mentioned sixty eight times over the holidays? Why had she sent him a (not very good) drawing of a cat? What was with her socks? Had she missed him?

(-)

"Oi, Malfoy!"  
>"Is that going to be how you greet me from now on?" he asks, exasperated, as she grabs his collar and yanks him back. Nearly strangling him in the process, he might add. She shrugs.<br>"Perhaps. Keep your fingers crossed for Hugo, alright?"  
>"What house do you want him to be in?" Scorpius asks, noticing the brown haired boy looking nervously around, and clinging onto his sister's hand.<br>"I dunno. Just keep your fingers crossed for a good one!"

(Hugo ends up in Ravenclaw, and Rose nods approvingly in Scorpius' direction like he somehow did that for them.)

(-)

"I don't like Nott," Rose announces one day, striding into the library and setting her books down on Scorpius' table.  
>"Hello to you too," he says dryly. "Would you like to explain what you're on about?"<br>"Nott. _Your _Quidditch captain. I don't like him. You'll be trying out of course?"  
>"Er..." Scorpius says, running a hand through his hair. She slaps it out and tells him he looks ridiculous. "Well... I don't know..."<br>"Your tryouts are tomorrow," Rose says, sliding the advertisement over and tapping the date with one yellow tipped nail. "I expect you to be there."

And she's off again. He stares at the date, thinks of his father, and scrunches the paper up into a ball.

(-)

"You're late," Rose screams at him when he plods onto the pitch the next day. "I thought you weren't coming!" Albus – sitting next to her, wrapped up in Gryffindor colours, nods at Scorpius, who gives a half smile in return.  
>"Are they your friends?" Nott asks Scorpius suspiciously when Scorpius manages to get Rose to be quiet and turns to the team. He shrugs.<br>"I suppose."  
>"Hmm... OK. Mount your broom, Malfoy, and we'll see what you can do."<p>

Half an hour later, Scorpius is named as the Slytherin team's new seeker, handed the robes, and when he goes down to dinner that evening there's a small box on the table. On opening it, he finds a brand new copy of _Quidditch through The Ages_, and he smiles.

(-)

"Scorpius," Rose says, interrupting him while he's explaining a particularly knotty recipe for a potion to her.  
>"<em>Yes<em>?" he growls, because this is the sixth time she's interrupted him for random reasons such as 'do you like chicken pasta?'  
>"Do you want to come home with me for some of the summer holidays?"<br>"Oh..." he says. His mind flickers to his father, and then he nods. "I'd love to."

(-)

"You play seeker, don't you?" Dominique asks him one night when the whole clan are sitting around the long table for dinner.  
>"Um... Yeah," he says, intimidated by the beautiful girl with the long blonde hair and bright blue eyes.<br>"You'll be playing on James's team, okay?" she says. It's more of a demand than a question, and Scorpius guesses that Rose's bluntness is probably inherited.  
>"Okay," he says. "Whatever."<p>

He ended up on a team with James (Keeper), Dominique, Hugo and Lucy (Chasers), and Fred and Rose (Beaters). He should have guessed that Rose would play beater, he thinks, as she hefts a heavy bat over one shoulder and strides over to him.  
>"My family are crazy," she warns him formally. He eyes the indigo streaks she's put in her hair, the highlighter socks creeping back down her ankles and the white tutu she's wearing.<br>"Yep," he nods. "_They're _the crazy ones."

(-)

Third year dawns with Rose introducing him to her cat.  
>"This is Banoffee," she says, handing him a wicker basket and instructing him to look into it. "Mum got a cat during third year, and she said I could have one too."<br>"Banoffee?" Scorpius says, taking a big step back as the fluffy white cat aims a scratch at his face. "Why?"  
>"Well her real name is Princess Bridgit Azelea Norbert Wendeville if you want to be picky," Rose huffs. "I thought Banoffee was more realistic."<p>

_Princess Bridgit... _Scorpius begins to mouth the name back to her, then gives up.  
>"Okay," he says. "Whatever. You're insane. Shall we get a carriage?"<br>"Yes," Rose says. "Let's."

(-)

"Hey, Scorpius!" A group of Slytherins hail him as he slips into the common room one evening. He looks up, confused as to why _they _would be talking to _him. _  
>"You've been with the Weasley girl?" Jason Nott asks. He's a tall boy in seventh year, with closely cropped dark hair and ice blue eyes.<br>"Which one?" Scorpius jokes, but they don't find it amusing.

"What happened to _you_?" Rose hisses, as Scorpius comes into Transfiguration the next morning.  
>"Nothing," Scorpius grunts.<br>"You look like you've been hit by a... Speeding hippogriff."  
>"Just some... Guys messing round," Scorpius says, pulling out his wand and squinting at the board for instructions.<br>"On your face. With their fists," Rose tuts. "Gosh, are they wizards or oafs? Couldn't they have at least _hexed _you?"  
>"Thanks for your support," Scorpius says, sarcastically, waving his wand and somehow managing to blow up the desk.<p>

(-)

A few days later, Jason Nott greets Scorpius in the Hall, when he's walking with Rose to History of Magic.  
>"Hey Malfoy," he says, then lunges at him with a growl. Scorpius yelps and jumps a foot in the air and Jason walks off chuckling to his next class. Rose stands there, arms crossed, foot tapping against the stone.<br>"Scorp?" she says. He looks at her, and then she stalks off. He enters History of Magic alone, and she doesn't turn up for the whole lesson.

(-)

"Can I have this?" Rose greets him that evening, squashing in at the Slytherin table and ladelling soup into a bowl.  
>"You're already taking it, so I guess..." Scorpius says, picking at his dinner. "Where did you go?"<p>

Rose doesn't answer, preferring to spoon tomato soup into her mouth at a rapid pace. The doors to the Hall open, and the rest of the Potter-Weasley clan arrive, sit down on their respective tables (the majority heading right over to Gryffindor), and Rose slurps up the last dregs of soup, before snatching up a chicken wing from the platter next to her elbow and munching on that.  
>"Can I ask why you're eating at my table?" Scorpius says, watching her with revulsion.<br>"No, Blondie, you cannot," Rose says, spraying him with crumbs again. He wipes them off.  
>"You are disgusting, Red."<br>"I like that," Rose says, standing up and ruffling his hair. "That will do very well."  
>"What?"<br>"Red."

(Jason Nott never bothers him again, and Rose, nor any of her cousins, will admit to having any part in the mysterious way all of his furniture was nailed to the roof of the Astronomy tower.)

(-)

"This year," Rose says, coming into Scorpius' compartment with Princess Bridgit and kicking the first years who had sought refuge there out. "This year we have to do something extraordinary."  
>"More extraordinary than nailing someone's bed, bedside table and suitcase to the roof you mean?" Scorpius asks her, looking up from <em>Quidditch through the Ages. <em>Rose simply smiles at him, and he sighs. "Why?"  
>"Because Uncle Harry won the Triwizard Tournament during his fourth year at school."<br>"Well that's not happening this year is it?" he says, opening the book again and turning to find the right page. "Anyway, why would that make any difference to us?"  
>"Think of what your <em>dad <em>would say!" Rose says, innocently. Scorpius imagines the look of horror on his father's face when his son gets into some sort of trouble... Again...  
>"You know, I was looking forward to having a peaceful seven years at Hogwarts," Scorpius says, and Rose smirks.<br>"Please," she says.

(-)

"You think she's being ridiculous too, right?" Scorpius mutters to Al as they follow Rose down the corridor, trying to tune out her insistence that '_extraordinary is the way to go this year guys!' _  
>"Yes," he says, gloomily. "Though everyone's expecting me to do something amazing while I'm here. Why couldn't my parents be <em>normal<em>?"  
>"I know how you feel mate," Scorpius sighs. They both duck as a paper airplane zooms towards them. "Yes Rose?"<br>"Were you listening to a _word _I said?" she tuts.  
>"Nope," Scorpius smirks at her. She tugs at her curly hair and glowers at him. But she's Rose, and unable to stay mad at anyone for too long, so she links arms with both boys and drags them down the hallway, chattering on again. They look at each other over her head and sigh.<p>

(-)

A few days before the Christmas holidays, a note lands on Scorpius' desk during Charms. It's a picture of a bee, and a smiley face. He turns in his seat and sees Rose beaming at him.  
>"<em>What<em>?" he mouths. She throws her hands up in the air and shakes her head at him. More confused than ever, he turns back to his work, and tries summoning a pillow again.

Rose catches up with him after the lesson, and says;  
>"Be happy!"<br>"What?"  
>"<em>Be happy! <em>What I sent you. A bee and a smiley face. Gosh Blondie, any idiot would have gotten that."

He picks a feather out of her red hair.  
>"You're crazy, Red, absolutely mental."<p>

(-)

"I know what we're going to do!" Rose screams, running into the Great Hall during breakfast, and making a tiny first year over at the Hufflepuff table start crying. Scorpius shushes her, and moves up. She takes a big helping of scrambled eggs, and shovels them into her mouth. "I had an epiphany last night!"  
>"Oh God," Scorpius sighs.<br>"No, it's awesome, don't be such a pessimist! Give me your pumpkin juice," she adds, snatching the goblet up and draining it.  
>"Gee, thanks Rosie," he deadpans.<br>"So we're going to go swimming with the Giant Squid," Rose says, enthusiastically. He turns to face her.  
>"Please tell me you're <em>not <em>being serious?"  
>"I'm being deadly serious. Why would I not be serious? It's such a good idea!"<br>"It's the worst idea I've ever heard!" he half yells. She raises her eyebrows.  
>"Please Blondie," she says. "We both know I'm the brainy one here, so let me decide what's a good idea or not."<p>

He huffs.  
>"I'm not doing it."<p>

(-)

"I can't believe I'm doing this," he grumbles, staring into the Lake. "I violently dislike you, Rose Weasley."  
>"Get over yourself Blondie," she says, coming up next to him, wearing an oversized blue shirt over her swimsuit. "And get changed."<br>"I'm not doing it," he says, firmly, turning to face her. Her brown eyes sparkle mischievously. "Rose, don't you dare – AAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

She smiles down at him from the bank.  
>"Is it warm?"<br>"It's freezing," he growls, standing up in the murky water and holding up his arms so the lake water drips from his sleeves. "And _I'm _fully clothed."

She divebombs in, and resurfaces spluttering but elated.  
>"This is <em>wicked<em>!" she screeches. "We should _so _do this more often!"

(-)

"MALFOY WATCH _OUT_!" Celia Zabini yells during the last Quidditch match of the year (Slytherin versus Ravenclaw). He turns, sees the Bludger, and then it all goes black.

(-)

"Blondie? Can you hear me?"  
>"Nurrrrghhhh," he groans. "Am I in heaven?"<br>"As flattered as I am that I feature in your heaven," Rose says, briskly. "You're being a melodramatic squid."  
>"Are you alright Malfoy?"<br>"You fell pretty hard."  
>"And for a long time."<br>"You can't fall for a long time, idiot."  
>"Yeah you can."<br>"Will you two stop fighting over Blondie's sickbed?" Rose snaps, flicking Hugo and Albus. They mutter apologies, and Scorpius sits up. The world spins, and he groans, slamming a hand to his forehead, where he feels bandages.  
>"What happened?" he asks, groggily. "Who won?"<br>"Er... We did. Sorry, mate," Hugo says. Scorpius shrugs.  
>"Don't matter. We'll do it next year."<br>"McLaggen hit you with a Bludger," Celia explains. Scorpius looks up at her, and she shrugs. "If it makes you feel better I hit him with my club afterwards?" She raises the weapon in a threatening manner, and Hugo and Al take a step away from her. Scorpius smiles, and Rose nods.  
>"I like her. You can be friends with her if you want."<br>"Wow. Thanks Red," he says, and Hugo sniggers. Rose smiles benignly at him, and offers to bring him a slice of cherry tart after dinner. "No... I'm good. Thanks anyway."  
>"There's nothing I wouldn't do for you Scorpy," she says, in a rare display of emotion. "And I know there's nothing you wouldn't do for me either. We spend our whole lives doing nothing for each other!"<p>

She cackles, and runs out, leaving the others to try and understand the joke. When they get it, Scorpius groans, Celia smirks, and Hugo and Al try and convince themselves that Rose was adopted and not related to them at all.

(-)

"What are you doing?" Scorpius hisses, out of the corner of his mouth, as Rose does some sort of bizarre jig on the platform, waiting for her parents to pick her up.  
>"I need the loo," she says, bluntly.<br>"I shouldn't have asked..." he says, looking at her. She grins.  
>"<em>Rose<em>!"  
>"Hi mum," Rose says, hugging her mother back. Hermione Weasley has a mass of brown hair, the exact same texture as her daughter's. They have the same eyes as well, and they're kind as she turns to Scorpius.<br>"Hi, sweetie. Are your parents coming to pick you up?"  
>"Yeah," he says, smiling at her. "Hi Mr Weasley."<p>

Ron grumbles a reply, one arm protectively over his daughter, who is still doing her toilet-dance. Scorpius wishes she wouldn't. The urge to laugh is overwhelming, and he doesn't need to give Ron a reason to hate him.  
>"Are you coming round again this summer? We'd love to have you."<br>"Um... If I can, I'd love to, Mrs Weasley," he says, avoiding Ron's glower. Rose gives him two thumbs up, and then Hugo arrives, and Scorpius slips off.

(-)

"You're friends with Rose Weasley," Draco says, one evening during the holidays. The family have just sat down for dinner. Scorpius nods, frozen halfway through reaching out to take some peas. "I don't want you to be."  
>"What? Why?"<br>"Because I am your father, and I know what's best for you. And that girl is not what's best for you."  
>"She is," Scorpius says. He can feel himself verging on tears, and he hates his father for it. "She's my friend. She's funny, she's kind, she's loyal, and she <em>looks at me<em>!"

Draco, who is cutting his fish into manageable pieces, looks up in surprise as his son leaves the table, slamming the door behind him.

(-)

_Dear Scorpius le Blonde,_

_HAPPY BIRTHDAY! You're officially fifteen. How does it feel to be MY AGE. Al's telling me that it's not my age because I didn't buy it. Now he's yelling at me for writing this on your card. :D He says hi, by the way. _

_Anyway, I hope you like your present. I chose it all by myself! _

_Love me. (Rose). And Al says hi._

(-)

_Dear Blondie,_

_How's your summer been? Mine's been boring. Did you get your present? Do you want to come round two weeks before school ends? We can go to Hogsmeade together, and get our stuff for school. We're going to the Burrow the Saturday before school starts, and you can come too! It'll be awesome. Reply soon : ) _

_Love Rose_

_(-)_

_Dear Blondie,_

_Did you not get my letter? I sent it with Errol the Second, so he might not reliable... I'm sending this one with Hugo's owl, so I hope you get it. Anyway! Can you come over this Friday, for two weeks? We can go to Hogsmeade together, and you can come to the Burrow!_

_Love Rose_

_(-)_

_Dear Scorpius,_

_Are you OK?_

_Love Rose_

_(-)_

"Mum," Rose says, coming into the kitchen the morning before the whole family troop off to the Burrow.  
>"Yes darling?"<br>"Can we go round to Scorpius' house?"  
>"Oh..." Hermione puts down the knife she's buttering Ron's toast with and looks in surprise at her daughter. "Why?"<br>"He hasn't replied to any of my letters," Rose sighs, taking a muffin from the box on the table and biting into it. "I'm worried about him."  
>"Maybe he went on holiday," Hermione suggests. "And you sent it to the wrong address."<br>"He'd have told me," Rose says, firmly. "Can we?"  
>"Well... It's very out of way, dear... And you know what our situation is with Scorpius' family. I think it's best if we keep out of their way. Rose! <em>Rose<em>!"

The redhead has stormed out of the kitchen.

(-)

"Um... Celia?" Scorpius says, dragging his trunk up to the window of a compartment halfway down the train. The brunette pokes her head out.  
>"Sup Scorp?"<br>"Can I sit in here?"  
>"Sure," she says. "Where's Rose?"<p>

He doesn't answer, dragging his trunk up into the train, and hefting it into the luggage rack. He takes the seat next to Celia, and they talk about Quidditch, food, colours, Slytherin, Quidditch, Hogwarts, lessons, Quidditch until the train arrives at Hogsmeade station.

He thinks he sees a flash of curly red hair and highlighter socks getting into a carriage ahead of him, but Celia's already clambered into a carriage with other Slytherins, so he follows her.

(-)

"Oi."

He's slammed into a wall, and finds himself staring into furious hazel eyes.  
>"What the <em>hell <em>did you think you were doing, _Malfoy_?"  
>"James, don't be so violent!" Dominique snaps. She turns to Scorpius, and says in a sweet voice that's somehow just as threatening as James'. "So... Did you get her letters?"<br>"Yes," he mumbles.  
>"You didn't answer any of them," Fred growls.<br>"You better have a really good reason," Dominique agrees, pushing her hair out of her face. All three of them smile at him, and he's never been more relieved than when he hears;  
>"What are you guys doing? Leave him alone. He's not worth it."<br>"Rose," James says, releasing Scorpius' robes. The blonde boy slides down the wall, and stumbles to his feet.  
>"You sure you can handle it?" Fred asks his cousin. Rose raises her eyebrows at him, and he nods. "Alright then. Point taken. Come on guys."<br>"We're watching you," James hisses as they leave. Rose rolls her eyes, and turns to go.  
>"Rose –" Scorpius says, catching hold of her robes. She wrenches herself free.<br>"_What_?"

The explanation rises to his lips, and then he catches sight of himself in one of the stone knight's polished breastplates. He looks like his father.  
>"I'm sorry," he whispers, and he runs past her.<p>

(-)

Scorpius misses her.

She got their seats swapped for Transfiguration, and he's now sitting behind her, watching her doodle on her hand, and hating the downward tugging at her lips. He looks down at the essay on the desk and sees his name 'Scorpius _Malfoy' _scrawled at the top, and he slides his pencil case over the slanted script.

Albus twists in his chair, and meets Scorpius' gaze. The black haired boy looks briefly towards his cousin, and back at Scorpius. Scorpius rips the edge off his essay, and sketches a bee, and a smiley face, scrunches it into a ball and aims it at Al. He nods towards Rose, and the boy slides it onto her desk.

"What's this?" she whispers. Albus shrugs. Rose smoothes out the paper, and squints at the illustrations. She smiles slightly, and when Transfiguration's over she links arms with Scorpius and leads him away from the classroom. "Why didn't you tell me you could draw?"  
>"You've forgiven me?" he says, hopefully, stopping in the middle of the corridor to stare at her. She rolls her eyes, and tugs him towards the delicious smells wafting out of the Great Hall.<br>"No. I'm still furious, and I probably hate you," she replies, deadly serious. "But why didn't you tell me you could draw?"

She drags him down to the Gryffindor table (he receives lots of suspicious looks and is very glad when Al drops down on his other side), and takes two Yorkshire puddings, dropping them both onto her plate.  
>"I can't really draw..." he says, embarrassed as she waves the 'be happy' message in his face. "It's just a stupid thing."<br>"It's not stupid," Rose scolds. "It's very impressive. I'm impressed. This is me being impressed." She takes a huge bite of Yorkshire pudding and washes it down with pumpkin juice. "You should talk to Lucy."  
>"Lucy Weasley? Your cousin?"<br>"Yes. She likes drawing too," Rose says. She swallows, and a group of older Gryffindors walk past, giving Scorpius dark looks.  
>"Um... OK, whatever, I'll think about it," he says, standing up. "I should go..."<p>

She doesn't say goodbye, too busy piercing a sprout with her fork, but when he's sat down at the Slytherin table he sees her waving at him, and she shouts;  
>"Blondie? I forgive you."<p>

(-)

Lucy Weasley is a fourth year Hufflepuff. He finds her in the library one day after Christmas, and sits down opposite her, marvelling at his own daring.  
>"Hello Scorpius," she says, without looking up.<br>"Er... Hi Lucy," he mutters. "What are you doing?"  
>"Homework. Potions."<p>

She crosses something out, then sets down her quill and looks at him.  
>"Can I help you?"<br>"Rosesaidyouliketodraw," he explains, quickly.  
>"Excuse me?" she says, raising an eyebrow in an expression so reminiscent of her cousin he almost sniggers.<br>"Sorry. Rose said you like to draw."  
>"Oh. I do. Do you?"<br>"Well... I doodle."  
>"Doodling's good," Lucy laughs. She pulls at a strand of her red-brown hair and winds it round a finger. "What do you like to doodle?"<br>"Stuff," he says. "Like... The castle. People."  
>"You draw people?" Lucy asks, interested. "Could you draw me?"<p>

Scorpius colours, and makes a mental note to _kill _Rose for making him talk to another of her _mental _cousins.

(-)

"I hate the rain. I thought you should know," Rose grumbles, stomping into the Owlery after Scorpius, and dragging down her magenta hood.  
>"I already did know," Scorpius sighs, whistling for his owl. "You told me about seven times on the way up here."<br>"Well if you want to say something you should say it to someone who cares. And if you'd looked like you were listening I wouldn't have had to repeat it," Rose grumbles. She reaches out and pets the bird that lands on Scorpius' arm. "Hello darling."  
>"Hello to you too, Rosie. I had no idea you felt that way."<br>"Shut up, Blondie," she says, a smirk on her lips. "I don't. You're like... My blonde relation. Well, no, cos I have them. You're my blonde brother."  
>"Gee, thanks," he says, passing her the letter he wants to send. She attaches it to his owl's leg, and they watch him fly off. Rose demands a piggy back on the way back to the castle, and he obliges.<p>

(-)

"OW! What in the name of Merlin's saggy left buttock did you do that for?" Scorpius gasps, massaging his stomach and glowering at Rose. "She just _punched _me!" he appeals to the room at large.  
>"Get used to it. She's violent when stressed," James calls. "And Ro? Get your boyfriend out of the Gryffindor common room."<br>"He's not my boyfriend!" Rose screeches. She takes off a lime green ballet pump and aims it at her cousin's head. "We have an _entirely _platonic relationship. He's my brother from another mother!"  
>"Okay, okay!" James says, cowering in case of another shoe attack. Fred Weasley, sitting on his left, sniggers, and is hit by a flying shoe.<br>"I'm keeping this!"

(-)

"Well," Rose says, flopping down beneath the oak tree by the Lake and kicking her shoes off. "That was surprisingly easy. How did it go for you?" Scorpius rolls onto his side to look at her.  
>"I somehow managed to turn my examiner into a canary," he groans. "I failed it spectacularly."<br>"Never mind," Rose assures him. "Maybe he'll find it a sign of natural talent and give you an extra mark?"  
>"Keep on dreaming," Scorpius retorts.<br>"At least we've finished our O.W.L.s though," she says, sitting up and retying her ponytail. "Now we have N.E. to start revising for."

He tackles her.

(-)

"See you next year Scorp!" Celia's voice precedes her, and then she appears out of the crowd, thrown her arms around Scorpius in a tight hug, and flown off again to join her friends.  
>"She likes you," James says, wisely.<br>"Don't be such a moron James." Dominique sighs. "Funnily enough, boys and girls can be friends without falling in love or something stupid like that."  
>"You mean you don't love me?" James whines, putting a hand to his heart. Dominique elbows him.<br>"That, my dear _cousin, _would be incest. Anyway, I have a boyfriend. Have a nice summer Scorpius."

She throws him a dazzling smile that makes his reply shrivel and die in his mouth, and skips off to join the Scamander twins. Rose bounds over, her curls loose around her shoulders, and wearing a dark green bomber jacket that Scorpius is _sure _he's seen before...  
>"Hey, Red, that's mine!"<p>

She laughs, and he chases her into the crowd.

(-)

"Hello Scorpius," Harry says, warmly shaking the teenager's hand.  
>"Hi Mr Potter, Mrs Potter."<br>"Call us Harry and Ginny love," Ginny says. She goes to the foot of the stairs, and yells; "KIDS! SCORPIUS MALFOY'S HERE!"  
>"Did your parents drop you off?" Harry asks, pleasantly, as if Ginny isn't shrieking at Lily to go and put something <em>suitable <em>on behind him.  
>"Yeah, but they've gone," Scorpius says. He's suddenly hit by a body, and Rose is yelling in his ear. He manages to detach himself from her, and looks down at her in confusion. "Er...?"<br>"Princess Bridgit's having _kittens_!" she squeals. "You can have one!"  
>"Oh... Wow. Thanks."<br>"We're going to have dinner at around eight, alright Scorpius?" Ginny says, ushering her husband back into the kitchen, and smiling at the blonde.  
>"That's great thanks, Mrs... Ginny."<br>"Hi Scorpius."

A stunningly beautiful girl has descended the stairs – tall, and blonde, with warm brown eyes. Scorpius' mouth is suddenly very dry.  
>"Er... Hi..."<br>"I'm Victoire," the vision introduces herself. "And this is Teddy. My fiancé."

Teddy – tall, sporting brilliant red hair and twinkling green eyes, smiles at Scorpius.  
>"Pleased to meet you. We'll see you at dinner."<br>"Hey Scorp."  
>"Sup dude?"<br>"Hi Scorpius."  
>"Hello Malfoy"<br>"Hi Scorpius."  
>"Hello Scorpius."<br>"Hey dude."  
>"Hi Scorp."<br>"Hello Scorpius."  
>"Hi dude."<p>

The rest of the clan have trooped downstairs and are crowding round Scorpius, hanging from the banister (Roxanne), or sitting on the stairs.  
>"Don't scare him! He isn't used to so much crazy," Rose snaps, flapping her hands at them. They leave in a laughing mass.<br>"Ro, if he's friends with you, I think he's used to crazy," Al comments, and she picks up a shoe and throws it at him.  
>"Violent soul," Scorpius remarks, laughing.<p>

(-)

"This year will be the twenty fifth academic year anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts," McGonagall says, during the Welcoming Feast. Scorpius looks over at Rose, and sees her holding Roxi's hand. "So we will be having a memorial on the last day of term, and –" here she pauses, and Celia leans across the table, her dark hair almost falling into a bowl of custard, and mouths something at him. "A dance this Christmas."

Celia nods, her blue eyes dancing, and Scorpius smiles at her. The Hall has erupted with excited whispers. Mainly from the girls.

(-)

"Do you have a date for the dance?" Scorpius asks Rose nervously, one library period. She looks up at him in horror.  
>"Please say you're not asking me."<br>"Ew. No!" he denies it, vehemently. "I just want to know if I'm going to be the only loser going stag."  
>"Yes," Rose says, turning a page. "You will be."<br>"Great," he says, flopping down onto the desk. She pats his head.  
>"I could volunteer one of my cousins? Let's see... Dom's going with Lysander... Molly left. Roxi's going to invite a guy in her year, and Lily's going with Rory Finnegan. So you could go with Luce?"<br>"No!" Scorpius says immediately. "She scares me."

Rose rolls her eyes at him.  
>"Well unless you're gay I can't help you then... You aren't gay are you? Cos if you are you could go with Al."<br>"I'm not gay. And nor's Al." Scorpius says, raising an eyebrow at her. It's a recently acquired skill, and he takes every opportunity to pass it off. Rose shrugs.  
>"You could ask Celia," she says, opening her book again.<p>

(-)

He only works up the courage to ask his brunette friend a few days before the actual ball, and that's really only due to Rose pushing him over to her, and standing guard by the door looking as threatening as a tiny redhead can when she's wearing a Winnie the Pooh hat.  
>"Um... Hey Celia," he mutters. The group of girls don't hear him, and it's only when one of Celia's friends sees him lingering by them looking ready to die that she turns.<br>"Hey Scorp! Didn't see you there. Are you OK?"  
>"Can I talk to you," he whispers, feeling himself going red. She smiles, amidst giggles from her friends, and nods.<p>

"So what's up?" she asks, when they're a decent distance away from the group of Slytherin girls, and close enough for Scorpius to run to Rose for help if it's necessary.  
>"Do you have a date for the ball?" he asks, measuring his words carefully.<br>"Nope," she shakes her head. He swallows.  
>"Do you want to go with me?"<br>"I'd love to," she says, going slightly pink and beaming at him. He smiles back, and they back away from each other.

(-)

Rose comes down the stairs first, her hair straightened, and wearing a violently blue dress that she looks really pretty in. Heads turn as she walks straight towards Scorpius and adjusts the lapel of his dress robes.  
>"You look nice," he compliments.<br>"I know," Rose says, happily. "You look good, too."  
>"Thanks Red," he nods.<br>"Mind if I take my date off your hands for a moment, Malfoy?" comes a polite voice from behind them. They turn and Scorpius sees a tall, tanned boy from Ravenclaw holding his hand out. Rose takes it, and bats her eyes at Scorpius. He smirks at her.  
>"Have fun," he says, feeling like a father. "Be back before midnight."<br>"Please," she scoffs, and her date leads her into the Hall.

(-)

"This is _amazing_," Rose says, flopping into one of the seats next to Scorpius and taking off one of her high heels to massage her foot.  
>"Rose, do you have to do that on my lap?" he asks, pushing the offending foot off his knee. She scowls at him.<br>"Where's Celia?"  
>"She's dancing with her brother," he smiles, pointing into the crowd where the Zabini siblings are rocking out to the music blaring from the speakers. Rose smirks.<br>"Nice moves."  
>"Shut up Red," he says, getting her in a headlock and tousling her red curls. She screams, and batters him with her fists until he relents and releases her.<br>"I hate you, Blondie, with a burning passion."  
>"And I you," he says, nodding formally in her direction. She hits his arm and then takes his glass of Butterbeer and downs it in one. "<em>Really<em>, Rose?"

(-)

He had fun with her that evening, and he finds himself watching her during Charms, as she waves her wand and the spell is performed perfectly. He tries to mimic the movement, and somehow dyes his eyebrows purple.

"You –" Rose informs him, sitting him down after the lesson to perform the counter curse, "are a moron."  
>"Thanks for the support, Red," he groans. She prods his eyebrows experimentally.<br>"My Uncle Harry did this once," she tells him. "Only that was in Transfiguration."  
>"We all know I'm terrible at magic, do you <em>have <em>to make me feel worse?"  
>"You should ask her out," Rose says, a minute later, when Scorpius' eyebrows are back to their normal shade. He turns to gape at her.<br>"_What_?"  
>"Celia. You should ask her out. She's very pretty, and I like her, so I won't try and destroy your relationship."<p>

She says it so matter of factly Scorpius _has _to ask;  
>"Have you ever done that before...?"<br>"Yes," Rose nods. "I broke James and Ellie Longbottom up last year. We all knew she was in love with Fred, she just needed a push, so I gave it! And now Fred and Ellie are a thing, and it's all down to me!"

She beams, and Scorpius just groans.

(-)

"What do you put on a Valentine's card?" Scorpius asks Al one day during lunch. Both boys are at the Slytherin table, watching Rose talk to the Ravenclaw boy. Al turns to face him, and shrugs.  
>"How am I supposed to know? I've never had a girlfriend."<br>"You suck," Scorpius groans.  
>"Ask Rose," Albus suggests.<br>"I did. She told me to write this."

He opens the card in question, and hands it to his friend. The Potter scans it, and grins.  
>"Celia, you are dreamier than a beamier of sunshine. Your eyes are shiny, and I like shiny things – " Scorpius snorts with laughter at the memory of Rose reading that out to him in a grave tone, and Al joins in. "That is the most <em>ridiculous <em>thing I've ever read."  
>"She's bad at poetry," Scorpius nods. "Do you like him?"<br>"What? Who?"  
>"The Ravenclaw."<br>"No. He better not lay a hand on my cousin, or I'll kill him."  
>"I'll help," Scorpius assures his friend grimly.<p>

(-)

"Two things!" Rose announces. She's wearing rainbow dungarees, and Scorpius does a double take when he sees her.  
>"You look like a Bertie Botts," he informs her. She spares him a withering look.<br>"Firstly – I am going to Hogsmeade this weekend with Nicholas."  
>"McLaggen?"<br>"That's the one," she agrees. "Secondly, where's Al because I found out stuff about the girl he likes."  
>"<em>Al <em>likes a girl?"  
>"Yes, Blondie, that's what I said," Rose tuts. "She's in your house as well, so you should really have done this. Not me."<br>"But you have such wonderful people skills Red, we wouldn't want them to go to waste," Scorpius grins. Rose flicks him on the forehead.

(-)

It comes as a shock to see her dressed in black, sitting with her family in the front row in the Hall. Scorpius slips in next to Celia, and she takes his hand. She's also in black, and her eyes are on the black Hogwarts flag unfurling at the back as McGonagall walks up to make the speech. The whispers die, and the speech begins.

"... So today we remember all those who fell. Lavender Brown, Gryffindor. Colin Creevey, Gryffindor. Olive Carroll. Gryffindor."

It surprises Scorpius how many Gryffindors are mentioned, and he starts when the last name of the pupils are read off, and McGonagall moves onto the adults who fought and died that day.

"_Gregory Goyle, Slytherin."_

Celia leans into Scorpius, who instinctively wraps an arm around her, and kisses the top of her head. Goyle's name is the only Slytherin one there, and he can feel the eyes of the rest of the school on the students with the green and silver ties.

"Nymphadora and Remus Lupin, an ex Hufflepuff, an ex Gryffindor, and a former Professor at this school. Fred Weasley, an old Gryffindor."

Scorpius looks over to Rose, and sees her watching him with sad brown eyes. She smiles a bit when he meets her gaze, and then returns to staring at the front.

(He's never been to a more depressing service.)

(-)

Seventh year dawns with Rose screaming at Scorpius to _get a move on or he'll miss the train! _

"You idiot, Blondie," she sighs at him, as he enters the compartment panting. Al stands to help Scorpius put his trunk in the luggage rack, while Rose remains leafing through a magazine and stroking Princess Bridgit with one hand.  
>"Head Boy," Scorpius notes, as Al sits back down. The Potter grins sheepishly at him.<br>"And his girlfriend's Head Girl, so that should be interesting," Rose says, primly.  
>"A Slytherin made Head Girl?" Scorpius gapes. "No <em>way<em>!"  
>"You sound like a gossiping teenage girl," Rose informs him, distastefully. "This magazine is boring. It'll make a good missile though. I think I'll go throw it at Nicholas."<br>"Why?" Scorpius asks, immediately. "Did he do something wrong?"  
>"No, I just want to break up with him without feeling guilty. He's not my type."<p>

She leaves, and Princess Bridgit leaps onto Scorpius' lap, purring loudly.

(-)

"I'm really sorry, Scorp," Celia sobs that evening. Scorpius' mouth feels rather dry. He doesn't want this conversation, though he knew it would happen. Why would a girl like _her _fall for a guy like _him_? "It's just... It's not working. Is it?"  
>"No," he whispers.<br>"I really like you though," she says, looking up at him with a tear stained face. "Would you hate me if I asked if we could still be friends?"  
>"No," he repeats, in a low voice.<p>

(-)

"I heard your girlfriend broke up with you," Lucy Weasley says, sitting down next to him and handing him a piece of paper. "That sucks. Sorry dude."  
>"It's not your fault," Scorpius shrugs. He wishes Lucy would go away. He wants to talk to Rose.<br>"Open it," she demands, tapping the paper with one hand. He does so. It's a picture of a bird. "Welcome to Singleville," the girl grins. "Where you're free as a bird."

She's not Rose, but she's not bad.

(-)

"Sickening," Rose comments, as they spy on Al and his girlfriend one blustery morning. "Give me your jumper, I'm cold."

He does.

(-)

"Hey Scorp! _Scorp! _Wake up you oaf!"

A pillow hits his midriff, and Scorpius sits up, blinking into the darkness. A pale face framed by bright red curls peers at him.  
>"Wha'?" he yawns. Then he realises where he is, and more to the point, where <em>she <em>is. "How did you get in here?"  
>"I want to show you something," Rose whispers. She grabs his hand, and pulls him out of the dormitory. He only has time to grab his robes before they're galloping down the stairs, out of the common room ('Gosh this place is <em>gloomy<em>, how do you stand it?') and then she's opening the door to the Astronomy Tower and leading him in.

A meteor shower lights up the sky, and Scorpius breathes out, looking around in wonder.  
>"Wow..." he says.<br>"And I'd have missed it if I hadn't needed some water," Rose says, happily. "Aren't you glad I ate that extra slice of garlic bread at dinner?"  
>"No, because it was <em>my <em>garlic bread," Scorpius retorts. He wanders to the edge of the tower and leans over the balcony. The stars are bright above them, shooting down around their heads. "It's beautiful Red."  
>"I know," she says, leaning on the balcony and resting her curly head on his shoulder.<p>

(-)

"What are you doing?" she demands, one evening soon before the Christmas holidays.  
>"Nothing," he says.<br>"Exactly! When you have spare time you should revise!"  
>"I'm revising Quidditch strategy," Scorpius says, reminding her of his captaincy by waving the badge in her face. She rolls her eyes at him.<br>"You're not doing anything."

He picks up his battered copy of _Quidditch through the Ages _and flicks it open to his favourite page.  
>"You're an idiot," she tells him, but sounds quite pleased.<p>

(-)

He comes home with her for Christmas again. His parents are holidaying in the Maldives, and they forgot to ask him to join them. He doesn't mind though, and spends his days playing Quidditch with the family, eating third helpings at dinner (so that's where Rose gets her appetite from...) and drawing.

"Keep still," he tells Lucy, making some fast strokes with a reddish pencil and admiring the result. She twitches her nose slightly, but otherwise remains frozen, chin on hand, hair falling about face. Fred enters the room, wearing a big Winbourne Wasps t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms.  
>"Whatcha doing?" he asks, going into the kitchen and summoning the coffee powder from the cupboard.<br>"Drawing Lucy," Scorpius replies, bending over the page and erasing his feeble attempt at the girl's eyes.

(-)

"Five, four, three, two, one!"

The household explodes with cheering, and Rose throws her arms around Scorpius, kissing his cheek.  
>"Happy new year!" she yells in his ear. He flinches away, and takes her goblet of firewhiskey.<br>"Quite enough of that, young lady," he says, setting it down on the table.  
>"Spoilsport," she mumbles, turning to talk to Dominique but finding her with her arms around Lysander Scamander and turning right back round again. "We're single again, eh, Blondie?"<br>"Indeed," he says, putting his arm around his best friend. She pokes his side.  
>"You need to work out."<br>"You really know how to boost my self confidence, Red," he says, batting her hand away. Al drops onto the sofa next to Rose, hair tousled.  
>"You, my friend, are thoroughly whipped by that girl," Rose says, patting her cousin's head. He sighs.<br>"She's awesome."  
>"You suck," Rose tells him, and stands up. "I'm going to talk to Cassie."<p>

She leaves, pulling down her magenta velvet skirt as she leaves. Al and Scorpius exchange looks and snigger.

(-)

"Ssssh, I'm planning Rose's birthday party," Scorpius whispers, coming to sit at the Gryffindor table with Al, Lucy, Lily and Roxi.  
>"Awesome." Roxi says, nodding enthusiastically. "When?"<br>"Her birthday," Scorpius says, slowly. "When else would we do it?"  
>"Stupid question," Roxi says, apologetically. "I blame my dad's genes. Where? Who are you inviting?"<br>"Room of Requirement," Scorpius says. "And because it's a weekend I was wondering if you guys thought we should try and smuggle the rest of your family in?"  
>"Definitely," Lily muses. "Good idea. I'll be in charge of that."<p>

She pushes herself up from the table and saunters off.

"Okay... Less work for me to do then," Scorpius says, pulling out a notepad and crossing it off.  
>"He made a list!" Al says, ruffling Scorpius' hair.<br>"Bless," Lucy teases, pinching Scorpius' cheek.  
>"I hate you all," he mutters, pocketing the notebook as Rose comes and sits down next to him.<p>

(-)

"If I could just... Have your attention...?" Scorpius says, tapping a glass with his spoon tentatively. No one listens, and he swallows, before trying again.  
>"OI! YOU LOT!"<br>"Thanks Lucy," he mutters, as the crowd falls silent and turns to look up at where Scorpius is standing, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. "Um... Okay, well I've been nominated to make Rose's seventeenth birthday speech, which is quite an honour, cos... Wow, Rose. What can you say about her? She's been my best friend since she came into my compartment that first day on the train. She's always been there for me, and I like to think she knows I'll always be there for her too. She's the sort of person you only have to meet once, for it to be enough to say 'I love Rose'. I do love Rose, in an entirely manly, platonic way. She's my redheaded sister, my best friend, the only one who can make me laugh when I'm down." He lifts his glass to the curly haired girl in the corner. "To Rose."  
>"To Rose," the room echoes.<p>

He thinks she wipes away a tear before giving him a thumbs up.

(-)

"Sugar Scott is interested in you," Cassie tells him idly. Scorpius continues reading until Al throws something at him.  
>"Listen when my girlfriend addresses your lowly existence, will you?"<br>"Sorry, what?" Scorpius says.  
>"He heard you say interested in, and he panicked," Rose explains, sucking on a sugar quill. "This is a really pointless essay."<p>

Everyone ignores her, and she huffs.  
>"Really?" the blonde asks. Cassie nods.<br>"I don't know why," she says, her green eyes sparkling at him. "You're kinda scrawny."  
>"Gee, thanks," he says, sarcastically. "I suppose you're more into messy hair and bad jokes?"<br>"Yes I am," she smirks. Al kisses her and Rose bangs her head against the table.  
>"What does a girl have to do to <em>revise <em>around here?"

(-)

"Scorpius!" Rose shrieks, as he clambers through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room after Al.  
>"What?" he asks, alarmed at her tone. She shoves Princess Bridgit into his arms.<br>"She's ill. Look after her –"

Princess Bridgit throws up all over Scorpius' robes. Rose's hands fly to her mouth. That would – of course – be the moment Sugar Scott comes down from the girls' dormitories, and spots Scorpius.

Needless to say, he doesn't bother inviting her to Hogsmeade that weekend.

(-)

"And it's Zabini with the Quaffle, he passes to his sister and she's off down the pitch. Aiming for the goal, can she score? _No_, Alice Longbottom saves!" Lily Potter screams into the microphone during the Quidditch Cup finals. It's Slytherin versus Gryffindor, and Scorpius is searching for the snitch.

In the crowds, Rose is wearing red and gold, with a badge proclaiming her support for the Slytherin seeker, and the Slytherin seeker _alone. _

"Roxanne Weasley hits a nice bludger towards Scorpius Malfoy, Slytherin team captain, but he dodges, and it's Rory Finnegan with the Quaffle, he's dropped it and it's... Zabini, passes to Zabini, and she's going for the goal... No she's passed back to Ryan Nott, who shoots and... He _scores_!"

Scorpius does a mental victory dance. It's the first Slytherin goal all match (ten to one hundred and forty) and the crowd goes wild. It's a depressing score, but if he catches the snitch now he will scrape his house a win...  
>"And Wood has the Quaffle, she shoots... She scores! Yes, in your <em>face, <em>Slytherin! Sorry, professor. Um..."

A glint of gold below, by the Gryffindor goalposts. Scorpius leans low on his broom and zooms off.

"And it looks like Malfoy has seen the snitch... And so has Potter, and Wood scores a goal for Gryffindor!"

"_Come on_!" Scorpius urges his broom. Al swoops upwards from below, and Scorpius puts on an extra burst of speed, stretches out his fingers and...

The crowd explodes as the snitch's wings flutter between Scorpius' gloved fingers. Al grins at him from his own broom, and salutes. Scorpius mimics the gesture, and is promptly tackle hugged by his teammates, as they sink to the ground, roaring in approval at the results.

"A draw?" Ryan repeats, as Lily screeches the final result out to the crowds. "No, because Scorp caught the snitch when we were ten points up! And _they _only had one hundred and fifty, so we won!"  
>"No," Lily argues. "When Malfoy and Al were going for the snitch Lizzie scored a point, so Gryffindor had a hundred and sixty."<br>"I don't think we've ever had that result before," McGonagall says, wringing first Scorpius' hand, then Al's. "Well done, both teams. Go and get changed, and don't argue Zabini, or I'll have you in detention."

Scorpius turns to head off to the changing rooms, and is hit by a redheaded whirlwind.  
>"Oof! Hello Rose."<br>"You did it!" she cheers, fistpumping and doing a dance around him. "I'm so very proud!"

(-)

"I'm going to fail my exams!" Rose yelps, slamming a heavy tome shut and looking up – frizzy haired, wide eyed and quite insane.  
>"No you're not," Scorpius says, wrestling with the spell he's attempting to cast. "You're going to be fine."<br>"But I have to get _such good marks _if I want to be a Healer!" she wails, pulling at her red curls. "Scorp!"  
>"You are going to be fine," he repeats, waving his wand experimentally. "If you feel like that then go to sleep."<br>"I _can't_!" she whines. "We've got our Potions exam _tomorrow_!"  
>"I know," he says, trying to make his voice less squeaky than it feels.<p>

(-)

"Well," Scorpius says, emerging from the final exam (DADA) with his hair fluffy. "That went... Quite well, I think."  
>"It did, didn't it?" Rose agrees, dancing a few paces ahead of him. "And now we have the whole summer! No Quidditch, no revising, just me and my blonde brother!"<p>

He grins.

(-)

"I think..." Lily muses, "that Victoire's baby will be a girl."  
>"Boy," Lucy says immediately. "It's so definitely a boy."<p>

The remainder of the Potter-Weasley clan who still attend Hogwarts are sprawled outside a few days before the end of term. A letter from Victoire containing the news that she's pregnant is on the grass beside Louis. Students who pass them on the way to some other sunny spot stop and stare – the boys glancing at Lily, sitting cross legged against the tree in a crop top that made Albus furious, and the girls staring openly at Louis, who's half hiding behind Rose. Scorpius – surprised, but very pleased to have been invited to their family gathering – is sketching them all.  
>"Roxi..." he mutters. "Don't move..."<br>"Is there a bee?" she asks, flinching instinctively.  
>"No, but the light there looks amazing on you..." he says, breathing through his nose as he adds a few strokes to convey the sense of shadow on the girl's glossy hair.<br>"I feel usurped," Rose sniffs. "You _used _to only draw me."  
>"Rose dearest," Scorpius grins. "<em>You<em> are my muse."

(-)

It's their graduation, and she's several seats away from him. If he leans back and cranes his neck he can just see her – red hair neat for once, her ankles encased in violet socks. He smiles, and his name is called.  
>"Scorpius Malfoy, graduating with a fair mark in all his N.E. – Defence Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Transfiguration, Muggle Studies –"<p>

He walks up to collect his certificate, and sees his parents applauding politely. Rose is beaming, Al gives him a thumbs up, and the Potter-Weasley clan who came to see their own graduates give him a cheer.

He waves the certificate triumphantly over his head and trips over his robes on the way back to his seat.

(-)

"I'm going to miss you," he admits to Rose as they walk around the buffet tables later that evening, she piling food onto an already crammed plate. "You and your appetite."  
>"I'm not dying," Rose snorts. "You're still going to see me. We're all going to be roommates. You, me and Ally."<br>"Don't call me that," Al calls over to them, and resumes his conversation with his brother, Fred and Dominique over the freedom after Hogwarts. (They hate it.)  
>"No one else will put up with my fashion sense," Rose continues. "Apparently it's awful."<br>"It suits you," he says, nicely.  
>"And that is why I love you," she says, leading him over to a spare table and picking up a chicken wing. "You always know what to say. Anyway, Al's training to be an Auror, I'm going to Healer School, and you're going to Art college."<p>

He nods, and sighs. She squeezes his fingers over the table.  
>"And when you're a hugely successful artist with a horrendously big head, and you no longer want to talk to me, I will still be your biggest fan."<br>"I could never not want to talk to you," he smiles at her, and draws a bee and a smiley face on his napkin with the pencil he's taken to carry around everywhere.  
>"This is not the end of Rorpius!" she says, pocketing his drawing and throwing her chicken wing up in the air triumphantly. It hits the back of her father's head, and he looks round.<br>"That sounds like a disease," he mutters.  
>"You're a little ray of sunshine, aren't you?" she smirks, picking up a bit of cake. Chocolate gateau, he notices, with a pang. "But seriously, Blondie. We will be friends forever. When I get married you're going to be my Maid of Honour!"<br>"Only if you'll be my best man," he grins at her.

(-)

They stick to their promises.

When he marries Lucy, three or four years later, she stands beside him at the altar, wearing a turquoise tuxedo, and when she meets a Muggle man – a teacher – and they get married in a church in Surrey, Scorpius walks behind his best friend down the aisle.

And when Rose – at the age of ninety four – dies in her sleep, surrounded by her family, Scorpius is there to lead her on.

(-) _Fin _(-)

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